Ch.50Chapter 50 – The Reunion with Her Was the Worst. (2)

“Where am I?”

When I regained consciousness, my body was wrapped in chains.

I was being dragged along with my face pointing upward.

Looking around, I could see clean corridors and stone walls.

“Is this… some kind of castle?”

For now, there was no sign of anyone nearby.

The corridor was empty with no people around, but it seemed well-maintained rather than abandoned.

I tried to recall why I was here.

But the last thing I remembered was being suddenly struck and losing consciousness.

“To think I’d be knocked out even while wearing armor.”

At least they had brought me here with my armor still on.

Thanks to that, being dragged like this wasn’t particularly painful.

-Clank

I tried to exert force to break the chains.

But no matter how much strength I applied, the chains showed no sign of breaking.

“Damn it.”

“Oh, you’re awake already?”

The woman dragging me was looking down at me with an expression of curiosity.

“What a terrible reunion.”

First time we met she was a vomiting woman, then an information broker, and now a kidnapper.

I wonder what form our next meeting will take.

“You, what are you?”

“A human.”

Her matter-of-fact expression as she stated the obvious was somehow infuriating.

“Not that. What do you do for a living?”

“Secret~”

This crazy…

“What a bitch.”

“Woof woof woof?”

“Fuck.”

This is irritating.

Judging by her nonsensical responses, she clearly has no intention of giving me a straight answer.

I considered unleashing a barrage of curses.

“…I’ll just keep quiet.”

In my current pathetic state of being dragged along, cursing would only make me look ridiculous.

Besides, I had a feeling she’d just respond with more nonsense anyway.

“Huh? What? No cursing? That’s disappointing.”

Seeing her express disappointment like that confirmed that staying silent was the right choice.

As I continued to be dragged along without responding, she must have gotten bored because she spoke again.

“Seems like you and Helmet-san are fated to meet.”

“What are you talking about?”

When I asked, she smiled and said:

“Well, when I was patting your back at the mine, I thought I’d never see you again.”

I thought so too.

But come to think of it, I kept running into this woman whenever I least expected it.

She jumped at me drunk on the street once, and last time I hired an information broker who turned out to be her.

“Maybe we’re connected by a deeper fate than we thought?”

“Are you on drugs?”

“No, I don’t do drugs. They’re expensive.”

The woman looked at me incredulously.

“If I had that kind of money, I’d spend it on drinking or paying off my tabs.”

So she does drink.

“So, what’s your purpose in taking me?”

“Want to guess? Maybe I have a grudge against you?”

Her attitude remained playful.

It seemed she had no intention of giving a proper answer.

“Answer me, Vomit Woman.”

“Hey, calling a woman ‘Vomit Woman’ isn’t very nice, you know?”

“What, are you going to sue me for defamation by stating facts?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

As we continued this back-and-forth while I was being dragged, we arrived at a door.

The woman gently knocked on the door.

“A~sam~, open up~”

“It’s open.”

The door opened with those words from inside.

Due to my position, I couldn’t see who opened it, but from the voice, it seemed to be another woman.

“So, what are we going to do with this Helmet-san?”

“I have many questions. Let’s start by drawing some blood.”

They’re talking about drawing blood when we’ve barely met for two minutes.

I tried to exert force on my arms again to escape, but the chains wouldn’t budge at all.

“What’s this, struggling? Are you afraid of needles?”

“Wouldn’t you resist if someone suddenly said they were going to draw your blood?”

The woman who had dragged me here thought for a moment after hearing my words, then spoke.

“Now that I hear it, you’re right. Can’t argue with that.”

Saying that, she brought her face right up to my helmet.

“I’ll give you candy if you behave and let us give you the shot, okay?”

She made all sorts of bizarre expressions while talking to me.

They were so strange that I wanted to ask if she had any shame as a woman.

“This bitch…”

I could feel heat rushing to my face.

She seemed determined to tease me, constantly changing her expressions.

“Just one punch.”

If these chains were off, I would have thrown a punch right away.

Meanwhile, something sharp was inserted between my helmet and armor.

“Now, now, don’t move or there’ll be trouble.”

“Wow, Asam. You’re so fast.”

“I did it while you were distracting him.”

These people, did they just stick a needle in my neck?

I was about to say something when the woman spoke with a serious expression.

“If you speak or move from there, the needle will stab into your neck, so it’s better to stay still.”

I immediately froze and remained still.

When she mentioned a needle stabbing me, my body instinctively stopped moving.

“This is insane.”

I never expected them to try drawing blood so abruptly.

After a moment, whatever was stuck in my neck was removed, and someone placed their hand on my neck.

“There. This will stop the bleeding.”

I felt something being attached to my neck.

“Probably a bandage or something like that.”

My neck felt slightly cool.

Then the woman put her face in front of my helmet again.

“Good, good, good. It didn’t hurt, right? Asam is an expert at giving shots.”

I opened my mouth slightly irritably at the woman who was talking to me as if soothing a child.

“Usually, don’t they draw blood from the arm?”

“You wouldn’t have given your blood willingly.”

That was certainly true, but somehow I felt wronged.

I was glaring from inside my helmet, feeling somewhat defeated, when I heard the voice of the person called Asam.

“Hey, what’s this person’s name?”

“Oh, want to label him?”

There was no answer, but I had a feeling she probably nodded.

The woman looked down at me again and said:

“So, what’s Helmet-san’s name?”

“If you want to know my name, tell me yours first.”

When I shot back, the woman asked in surprise:

“Huh? You don’t know my name?”

“How would I?”

She never introduced herself, so how could I possibly know her name?

“Not knowing my name… you’d have to be a spy not to know me around here.”

The woman crouched down in front of me and said:

“Beatrice.”

After introducing herself, she removed my helmet.

“Eek!”

“Oh, quite a manly face, huh?”

Unlike the other person who let out a small scream, Beatrice remained calm even after seeing my face.

She spoke again:

“So, what should I call you? Test Subject #13?”

She had definitely called me that when dragging me here too.

Quickly calming my surprised heart, I asked:

“How did you know that?”

“How did I know?”

Beatrice stood up and said:

“A priest named Hudson was very kind to explain it to me.”

I immediately tensed up at those words.

The mention of that priest’s name meant she had some connection to that order.

“How did you hear about it from that priest?”

“That’s not the important part, is it?”

Then, perhaps seeing my expression, Beatrice spoke with a serious face:

“You don’t think I’m on the same side as the Emiris Order, do you?”

“…If not, how do you know that name?”

I asked tensely.

Soon Beatrice laughed as if amused.

“Well, you don’t need to know.”

She’s determined not to answer.

“So, what’s your name again?”

“…Kay.”

I finally answered since she kept pressing.

“Hmm… not sure if that’s a good name or not.”

“So. What’s your relationship with the Emiris Order?”

I said, looking at Beatrice.

“My relationship with the Order?”

“Yes.”

Beatrice paused for a moment, as if thinking about my question.

“Do I look like I’m with that Order? This delicate beauty?”

I seriously wanted to ask where this “delicate beauty” was.

Surely she wasn’t referring to herself?

“Honestly, right now you look like you’re with that Order.”

“Really?”

“From my perspective, what you’re doing is identical to what they do.”

Kidnapping people suddenly, I mean.

At my words, Beatrice closed her eyes.

Then she suddenly reached out and grabbed my neck.

“Don’t compare me to those bastards.”

The atmosphere changed.

If killing intent had a form, I felt it would be visible from her somehow.

The strength of her grip on my neck was no joke.

“Answer me.”

“…Kuk.”

“Answer me, damn it.”

I wanted to tell her to let go of my neck first before demanding answers.

My oxygen-deprived brain was screaming at me to struggle.

Of course, I was still glaring at Beatrice throughout.

“Answer!!”

As if she had lost her reason, the strength in her hand was increasing.

At this rate, I thought I might pass out or die.

Fortunately, help arrived.

“Bea.”

A woman with round glasses and long, neatly kept brown hair had placed her hand on Beatrice’s shoulder.

This must be the woman called Asam.

The strength in my hand immediately disappeared.

“Kak, kuk.”

While I was catching my breath, Beatrice spoke:

“…Sorry. I got excited.”

“I can see that. Cool your head.”

Beatrice sighed.

“Can I smoke one?”

“You… never mind.”

“What’s this? You usually nag me.”

“Even if I tell you to go outside to smoke, you never listen.”

“That’s true.”

Soon Beatrice took something out from her pocket.

It was an item I hadn’t seen much around here.

“Cigarettes?”

Since I hadn’t seen anyone smoking around here, I found it a bit interesting despite the situation.

Beatrice put the cigarette in her mouth and took out something rectangular from her pocket.

She touched something and a small flame appeared, which she used to light her cigarette.

“Sigh, should I ventilate the room?”

Asam opened the window, and Beatrice smoked her cigarette.

“Phew…”

Soon Beatrice exhaled cigarette smoke.

The smell of tobacco quickly spread through the room.

“This really is the best for calming down.”

Beatrice said with satisfaction.

Her tone was once again a bit playful and calm like before.

Even I felt my mind calming down a bit as I smelled the cigarette.

“What is this?”

I felt a slight sense of dissonance.

I tried to clear my slightly clearer head.

“I really thought I was going to die.”

The killing intent I felt when she was choking me was real.

If they brought me here alive, they must have some purpose.

But in that moment, she seemed to forget that fact and choked me.

“What kind of relationship does she have with the Order?”

With that level of killing intent, she was certainly not an ally of the Order.

But that doesn’t mean she’s my ally either, so I should ask carefully.

“What did you do to that Hudson guy?”

“Huh?”

Beatrice, who was smoking, looked at me.

She spoke as if displeased but soon composed herself and opened her mouth again.

“What do you think happened?”

I didn’t answer specifically.

The Order would have tried to hide information about the test subjects.

It wouldn’t have been easy to extract information with ordinary methods.

“There’s a saying that ignorance is bliss, so don’t be too curious.”

“Really?”

“You don’t need to ask anyway.”

She smiled at me immediately.

Her lips were certainly smiling, but her eyes were not.

Still, from that expression, I could tell that Hudson hadn’t met a pleasant end.

What did she do to be able to hear all the information about me?

“Wait.”

At that time, Hudson was returning with one test subject as his escort.

If Hudson didn’t meet a good end, what happened to that test subject?

As if reading my thoughts, Asam and Beatrice started talking:

“Asam, what did you do with the one we caught before?”

“It’s a very interesting specimen, so I’m keeping it inside.”

Could it be that it was captured here?

Test subjects have specs that can’t be considered weak by any means.

“Oh, was it that interesting?”

“Yes, every time I dissect it, many interesting things come out.”

Asam said.

“I want to ask how anyone could think of doing such things to people.”

“Hmm, really?”

I agree with that statement, but dealing with the current situation was the priority.

I tried to apply force to the chains again to break free.

“Oh my, no matter how much strength you use, those won’t break, so you might as well give up.”

Beatrice said as if annoyed.

“I wouldn’t restrain Helmet-san with something mediocre.”

“…Let me go.”

“I don’t wanna~”

Beatrice said while spinning around in place.

It was purely intended to tease me.

Then, as if she just remembered something, Beatrice looked at Asam.

“Speaking of which, shall we go see what we caught?”

“Go inside.”

Asam waved her hand as she spoke, and Beatrice looked at me with a smile.

“Then let’s go, Helmet-san. It might be a familiar face?”

Soon the chains started pulling me again, and I began to be dragged helplessly once more.

Of course, I had no right of refusal.

As we went inside, all sorts of odds and ends came into view.

We passed through a floor littered with flasks containing unknown substances, books, and papers that looked like journals.

“…This feels unpleasant.”

It reminds me of that laboratory I escaped from.

Thanks to being dragged here, I was able to see that test subject again.

“Damn it.”

Familiar green liquid.

Familiar cylinder.

The test subject who had fled with Hudson was inside the cylinder, as if asleep.

“Judging by your reaction, it seems to be a familiar face.”

Beatrice approached with a smile.

“Now, I have so~ many questions for Mr. Kay.”

“…What do you want?”

At my question, Beatrice smiled fiercely.

“This and that.”

She smiled meaningfully.

“First, to get to know each other better, let’s start by learning more about Mr. Kay in detail.”

Beatrice smiled while slightly shaking a vial containing red liquid that appeared to be my blood.